Asus Zenfone 3 – Facts to Know Before Buy

After months of leaks, rumours and speculations, Asus has finally unveiled ZenFones 2016.This time, the Taiwanese giant has revamped its design philosophyand has introduced ZenFone 3 alongside its Deluxe and Ultra avatars. The company has drawn a clear line between all three phones and has replaced those old-school plastic backs with a sassy mix of metal and glass and powerful chipsets from Qualcomm.

While all three variants look veryimpressive, the base model is giving us goose bumps with those killer looks and spectacular specs. The metal built device is rumoured to hit the shelves in coming weeks and we expect some real fireworks, especially against the likes of players like OnePlus, Motorola, and Xiaomi.

To find what more is to come with this beauty, here are some facts you should keep in mind.

Build and Design

Unlike yesteryears, Asus ZenFone 3 and its siblings boast a cleaner and better design language. All three variants pack a mix of metal and glass and flaunt fine aesthetics with minor but identifiable tweaks here and there. ZenFone 3 looks very premium and flaunts a metal uni-body design with 2.5D gorilla glass on the back and front-panel. Just like last year, the back of the device is slightly curved, but it isn’t very apparent. You can expect a firm grip from this handset, and with volume buttons back on the sides, it seems contemporary and more attractive ergonomically.

Display and Visual Experience

If you’re hunting a vibrant and colourful display, Asus ZenFone 3 can live up to your expectations. The dual-SIM based phone sports a Super LCD full-HD display of 5.5-inches and incorporates Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the top. It delivers a detailed viewing experience with 401 pixels per inch and ensures good visibility in any lighting conditions, even in broad sunlight.

While full-HD screen might disappoint many, it is important to note that the Super LCD used by Asus does not look any weaker than a standard Quad-HD panel. It might not have as many pixels on paper, but keeping them side by side in real life, you’ll hardly see any difference in visual quality. It is as crisp and sharp as 2k panels and also keeps device cost and power consumption in check.

ZenFone 3 Core specifications

Since Intel has dropped out of its mobile SoC segment, there are no Intel driven chipsets in the latest line of Asus ZenFones. The affordable ZenFone 3 uses an octa-core Snapdragon 625 SoC with 3GB RAM and Adreno 506GPU. Its chipset runs at 2.0 GHz and packs enough power to keep all your games and apps running. ZenFones have always been performance driven and this phone continues that legacy with top-notch performance even when you’re running multiple apps or switching them continuously. It will be 32 gigabytes of inbuilt storage with an option to expand above and beyond up to 256 gigs.

But that’s not it. Asus also offers a beefed up variant of ZenFone 3 with 4GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage. We still don’t know whether it will be coming this month, we’re pretty sure it’s in the pipeline for Indian buyers.

The Latest Android

Probably the best things about Asus, it gives you the latest iteration of Android with unparalleled performance. The company has improved ZenFone 3 with the latest iteration of ZenUI. This time, company’s own custom skin brings a slew of features and a bunch of Marshmallow specific characterstics. ZenUI 3.0 runs on the top of Android 6.0 and gives a great user-experience in all ways. It’s fast, snappy and does not stutter any point even when it comes to heavy usage.

Asus has also reduced the amount of bloatware on its latest ZenFone. The interface is still colourful but is cleaner and easier to use than the last time.

Camera Output

Asus has also used improved camera technology in its latest ZenFones. The pixel count has increased on the main camera so as the number of features in the camera app. ZenFone 3 packs a 16-megapixel shooter on the back with laser assisted autofocus, Phase detection autofocus, and Optical image stabilization. The main camera of the handset is aided by f/2.0 aperture, dual-LED flash and is paired with an equally impressive 8-megapixel f/2.0 front-facing camera. The sensor on the back and front can shoot 1080p videos at 30fps and perform very well in below par conditions with very less or no light at all. If you prefer smartphone photography, this device can help you accomplish all your photography goals.

Battery capacity and backup

As for battery life, there are no big changes but with Android Marshmallow on-board, you can expect less power consumption and better memory usage on Asus ZenFone 3. Despite retaining a sleek and slim profile, ZenFone 3 manages to accommodate a 3000 mAh battery. It does increase weight by a bit, but holds more than enough power to keep all your apps up and running throughout the day. Whether moderate or heavy usage, this handset can last an entire day quite easily.

This is what you can expect from Asus next big thing, the ZenFone 3. The Marshmallow based handset is company’s first-ever smartphone with a fingerprint scanner. It has been due for months and we all are waiting to see the meticulous beast in action. While other smartphone brands in the country have already unleashed their entry-level offerings with fingerprint scanners and Type-C connectors, Asus is still holding back and it’s been a really long wait for all of us.

But, not anymore. The Taiwanese conglomerate is holding a press event on August 17 and the invite clearly suggests that “Z3Nvolution” will all be about Asus ZenFone 3 and its siblings.We still don’t know what more the company has to offer and it also remains to be seen if the new phones will go on sale right away or will hit the shelves in coming weeks.